http://www.dealersynergy.com 856-546-2440
Make Money Mondays with Sean V. Bradley - Special Edition - David Blassingame - "Auctions"
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There is a ton of confusion out there when it comes to digital and traditional marketing. Despite the rise of the "savvy dealer" over the last few years, it is still clear that many of the offerings companies are putting out there focus on intangible results.
Don't get me wrong. I know that there are things that have value from a marketing perspective that are challenging to measure, but to say that something is delivering results without giving an ounce of data to support it is silly. Exposure is great, but at what point does exposure truly translate into sales.
I have no doubt that there are services out there that dealers have used and found to be completely lacking from a reporting perspective. Even worse are the vendors that are putting out reports that seem to be designed to verify that they're doing something rather than reporting on successes or failures.
As I dig deeper into the digital and traditional marketing worlds of the automotive industry, I'm learning that two things are very true and verifiable:
- If it's bringing value, that value can be measured in some way
- If it's not bringing value, companies will try to demonstrate value with confusing metrics or complex reports
Tangible, measurable value should be the cornerstone of any marketing company's reporting. If so much emphasis is placed on the intangible, can dealers really trust the alleged results? I'm not going to name any companies in particular. I just want to point out that it should be measurable or you should question whether or not it's bringing any value at all. If not, move your budget elsewhere.
A large chunk of your target audience is using this platform to influence their buying behaviors. Find out how you can increase your exposure, and target shoppers using this unique platform.
On this episode of Hard Facts, Samantha explains how you can tailor your strategy to increase engagement, and how to reach more car shoppers by using this major platform.
http://www.rclacy.com
Example Of Video Email To Internet Prospect That Does NOT Respond To Follow Up Attempts
http://www.lakecountrychevrolet.com 888-888-1980
We are #hiring at Lake Country Chevrolet Cadillac we are looking for EXPERIENCED Automotive Sales Professionals in the #Tulsa ,#BrokenArrow , #Muskogee #Oklahoma area… We are offering a SICK Pay Plan! If you are currently working at a dealership and you are not making the money that you want, need and deserve. CALL ME!
There are muffins, and there are great muffins. The kind we get our of a plastic package from a vending machine or at a continental breakfast at a hotel usually meets the hunger requirements, but it's usually not exceptionally enjoyable. Compare that to a muffin from your favorite bakery and the experience can be like night and day.
Why is that? They have the same basic ingredients. There's the freshness component, but even packaged muffins are usually not that old because the shelf-life is so short on them. It really comes down to the way that they're prepared and baked. It comes down quality.
The difference between muffins is like the difference between customer database marketing solutions. When I speak to dealers across the nation, there is a good number of you who have some sort of customer database marketing in place. Perhaps it's an automated follow-up system through your CRM. Maybe you have a BDC procedure that tries to cultivate the relationship over time. These are fine and they're (usually) better than nothing, but they're usually result in very little tangible value as far is increasing sales and service business.
They're packaged muffins.
A true customer database marketing strategy requires quality, care, and strategy. It requires taking your database and improving on it based upon referencing other data that is available. It's about appending the data to make it more accurate and therefore more effective.
It also requires proper messaging. One of the biggest mistakes that I see dealers and even other vendors make is that they separate out their databases to target service customers and sales customers. The reality is that you have customers. Your service customers should be buying cars from you. Your sales customers should be getting their cars serviced through you. The strategies that can take the two types of customers and turn them into a strong set of "whole" customers is something that simply cannot be done through standard automated systems.
The packaged muffins won't get the job done.
A great muffin means putting together the right recipe (strategy) to nurture them properly. It's about staying in front of them with the right messages and being relevant to their needs before, during, and after they're fulfilled.
As you think about all of this, ask yourself if you're taking full advantage of your customer database in a way that is translating into dramatic increases in business and customer loyalty. Today, the loyalty factor has been abandoned by many simply because customers in the digital age seem to be less willing to do business with the same companies over and over again. They've broadened their horizons thanks to the internet. You can take advantage of this by nurturing them appropriately and constantly. The most successful dealers in the coming years will not be the ones that are relying on getting new business. The most successful dealers will have a strong balance between acquiring new customers and keeping their current ones.
Look at your strategy and decide whether it's really going after your current and past customers with the fervor it deserves. If not, it's time to explore a new strategy.
It's time to bake a great muffin.
http://www.internetsales20group.com 856-546-2440
The US auto industry is in the midst of a tremendous run-up in digital ad spending, piggybacking on cross-industry shifts in marketing budgets and historically strong domestic sales volumes. Automakers and dealers will spend $6.15 billion on US digital advertising in 2014, up 18.8% from the previous year. All told, substantial annual digital ad spending increases by the US automotive industry will continue for the foreseeable future, according to a new eMarketer report, “The US Automotive Industry 2014: Digital Ad Spending Forecast and Trends,” part of our new report series, “2014 Digital Ad Spending Benchmarks by Industry.”
eMarketer also expects growth in the sector’s share of total US digital spending through 2018. By the end of the forecast period, automotive will rank as the second-largest industry segment in the US for digital ad spending after retail, keeping it near the forefront of digital marketing for at least the next several years.
More than one-third (35%) of US automotive-related digital ad spending will be on mobile this year, eMarketer predicts, accounting for $2.15 billion of the $6.15 billion total. This will put the auto industry in line with the US industry average when it comes to mobile’s share of digital ad spending. Investment should continue to shift into mobile advertising, accounting for a larger percentage of total spending each year, although the pace of this shift is likely to be tied to advances in attribution and targeting on mobile devices.
Even without those advances, mobile-based branding and upper-funnel advertising efforts are increasing in response to evolving consumer research behavior—which has shifted to mobile.
For the past two years, eMarketer’s US automotive industry digital ad spending data has shown budgets split 60% on direct-response tactics and 40% on branding—in line with the cross-industry average. Put simply, digital marketing strategies have solidified mainly around tactics that entice new-vehicle buyers to take action while they are in-market.
It’s a delicate balance given the long buying cycle associated with new vehicles. Brands must remain well considered and top of mind among consumers who are not yet in-market in order to win a place on their shopping lists once they are. Original equipment manufacturers with a slate of new product launches also gravitate toward branding campaigns as they attempt to drive awareness with native advertising or social media pushes.
Clearly, however, the baseline automotive industry digital strategy is weighted toward investing even more to win sales in the final weeks of a consumer’s shopping process using tactics like search and programmatically purchased, targeted ads. A major reason is the measurability of return on investment for direct-response tactics, which provides an easy case at budget time for further funding.
The effectiveness of such tactics has helped redefine how auto marketers approach branding campaigns. These too are becoming more targetable to specific consumers, blurring the line between branding and direct response.
2014 DIGITAL AD SPENDING
BENCHMARKS BY INDUSTRY
- Retail
- Financial Services
- Automotive
- Telecom
- CPG
- Travel
- Consumer Electronics
- Media & Entertainment
- Healthcare & Pharma
The complete series by
Download the free executive summary today- See more at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Digital-Ad-Spending-US-Auto-Industry-Racing-Ahead/1010872/1#sthash.YHopfFtm.dpuf
Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Digital-Ad-Spending-US-Auto-Industry-Racing-Ahead/1010872/1
Why Long Tail Search Will Change Automotive SEO and Paid Search Forever
In SEO or paid search, long tail keywords are the key to gaining more traffic and more sales. This has become even more important with Google’s new Hummingbird algorithm update, signaling huge new opportunity in search engine optimization. This is an important automotive aftermarket trend for 2013 and beyond, if you sell online.
Auto SEO and long tail search keywords defined
First, let’s define what long tail searches are and why they’re important for automotive SEO and paid search, especially in the aftermarket.
Long tail keywords are phrases used in search using three or more words, such as “Audi performance parts” or “Acura Integra GSR turbo kits.” Long tail search keyword terms and phrases are important because they make up as much as 70% of all searches according to Moz.
Long tail search terms are the opposite of “head” search terms, or the one- and two-word search terms that are most commonly used. Head terms are estimated to account for around 19% of all searches, leaving the rest of the two-word search terms in the “chunky middle.”
As of a couple of years ago, Google reported about 1 out of 6 searches were new and had never been seen before. Considering the trillions of searches done every year, it is astonishing there is such a wide variety of searches…but you’ll see why there are so many a little farther down this page.
How long tail search is used by automotive aftermarket shoppers
Now that we know about 70% of searches are for long tail keyword phrases let’s dig into how automotive parts and accessory shoppers use these phrases. Long tail searches can be divided into two groups: pre-purchase and post-purchase.
Pre-purchase long tail searches show purchase intent and are used by consumers when making buying decisions: “turbo kits for Acura Integra” or “Audi A4 suspension upgrade.” These searches are looking for reviews, specifications, recommendations, prices, availability, and technical information.
Post-purchase long tail searches are done after the consumer bought a part, or after the decision has been made on what or where to purchase: “install Integra turbo kit B18B” or “installing Bilstein PSS10.” These searches are more technical in nature and are looking for how-to instructions, videos, or reviews.
Why long tail automotive search terms are important for paid search and SEO
Automotive parts and accessory shoppers are increasingly using long tail search terms and we’ll explain that trend at the bottom of the page. The main point about long tail search is, because it is increasing, many online retailers are missing out on their share of these long tail searches which instead send consumers to discussion web sites, magazine web sites, or to YouTube.
There are two reasons for this missed opportunity. One is because many online retailers do not have their paid search campaigns optimized to capture these long tail searches. The other, in the case of organic search, is they do not have their websites structured with correct search engine optimization (SEO) to show up for these search results.
Many pre-purchase searches, where shoppers are looking for technical information, or are using verbs like “buy” and “purchase,” or use very specific combinations of year/make/model, take shoppers to enthusiast discussion sites. Many shoppers want to end up on discussion sites anyway but online retailers can get more traffic by showing up for some of these long tail searches.
This why it is so important to understand the concept of year/make/model, or automotive part types, in automotive paid search and SEO. It’s also (…shameless plug since we’re experts at this…) why campaigns set up by agencies outside the automotive aftermarket are often ineffective.
Post-purchase long tail searches end up at YouTube, magazine web sites, or sites where enthusiasts have posted a lot of installation-related content like videos or photos. Here again, online retailers can get more traffic after the sale by optimizing for these searches, where there’s an opportunity to sell related parts.
Long tail search trend explained
Google recently rolled out Hummingbird, the first major complete replacement of their search algorithms since Caffeine in 2001.
Google recently announced their new Hummingbird algorithm, designed to produce better results for “semantic search,” which tries to understand searcher intent and the contextual meaning of search terms. You can see an example of this today by searching for “Chinese restaurant” on your phone and computer at the same time and looking at Google’s autocomplete phrases. Google’s suggestions for your search on your computer might include “Chinese restaurant near me” while suggestions on your phone might include suggestions for your city or surrounding cities since mobile searchers are probably on their way to a restaurant.
Google is obviously working hard to not only improve search results for us, but they’re anticipating the future increase in verbal searches from mobile devices and cars, spoken in natural language. As natural language and verbal search increases in the future, consumers will increase their use of long tail search phrases making this a more important trend in 2013 and beyond (and natural language search is a big reason why around 1 out of 6 searches have never been seen before).
Long tail searches produce more conversions: true or false
Many blogs on the Internet show a correlation between long tail search visits and higher conversion rates. Is the correlation true?
The answer is yes and no. It isn’t unusual to have lower conversions and higher bounce rates for long tail searches, if your site is not structured to take full advantage of these long tail visits. If you strategically plan with your digital marketing agency how shoppers should find your site today and in the coming years, and combine that with appropriate site content, you should be rewarded with an increase in qualified traffic as well as higher conversion rates and more sales.
It is important that you analyze your own site statistics to see if you are getting higher conversions for long tail search traffic. If you’re looking at long tail traffic from AdWords, make sure you know if you’re including your own brand term in your analysis and if your brand is one, two, or more words on its own, that will skew your analysis.
Source: http://hedgescompany.com/blog/2013/10/why-long-tail-search-will-change-automotive-seo-and-paid-search-forever/
http://www.dealersynergy.com 856-546-2440
Car Salesman Earns OVER $200,000 Selling Cars in Oklahoma, Now Is A Sales Manager
KKR Buying CarsDirect.com Owner Internet Brands for $1.1 Billion
The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has agreed to buy Internet Brands, which operates a portfolio of websites and software, in a bet that it can help the company expand its services.
The deal, which Internet Brands is expected to announce later on Tuesday, is worth $1.1 billion, according to two people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. K.K.R. is buying the company from two other private equity firms, Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity, which bought it for $640 million in 2010.
Members of the Internet Brands management team, including Bob Brisco, the chief executive, are investing in the deal alongside K.K.R. They will hold a minority stake and continue to run the company.
Internet Brands, based in El Segundo, Calif., owns websites like Lawyers.com, CarsDirect.com and ApartmentRatings.com. The company historically has generated a large portion of its revenue from advertising, while also selling leads to law offices and car dealerships
But more recently, under Hellman & Friedman’s ownership, it has expanded in an area called “software as a service” that provides companies with software to accomplish certain tasks. Its Autodata Solutions business, for example, provides services to companies like Toyota, Ford and Chrysler.
K.K.R. is aiming to expand each of these various business lines, while maintaining the focus on certain broad categories: automobiles, health, legal and a fourth category the company calls home and travel. There are no plans to break up the business, the two people briefed on the matter said.
K.K.R. has previously had success with another technology company that managed a portfolio of assets. In 2010, it acquired Visma, a company based in Oslo that provides businesses with software for accounting and payroll tasks. K.K.R. sold part of its stake in Visma this year.
The private equity firm is also an owner of Go Daddy, a domain name registration company.
“Internet Brands is at an exciting inflection point of growth as the company transitions from a portfolio of web assets to a vertically integrated provider of media and client software solutions,” Herald Chen, the co-head of K.K.R.’s technology investing team, said in a statement. “Its growth has been driven by its powerful, proprietary operating platform and a management team with a focused vision.”
Source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/k-k-r-to-buy-internet-brands-for-1-1-billion/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&
Congratulations to Sean V. Bradley becoming a Certified Speaking Professional!
More often than not, people think that graphics and texts are independent. An average person will post a great image, but neglect the text or on the other hand, post powerful text with no accompanying graphic. So what if we could combine powerful text and a helpful image to create a graphic that provides information? We can, and the result of this combination is called an Infographic.
Infographics are great considering the short attention span of the average content consumer; in fact, you’ve got just seconds to catch someone’s attention and inform them of the information you want to convey.
While we generally try to avoid idioms, the phrase “killing two birds with one stone” is more than appropriate when talking about infographics. You can convey information, while maintaining your company's brand and land them at the end of a great graphic with a better hook. Infographics are not just important important to catch your reader’s attention but, they’re huge for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). All of the words on the infographic will be read by search engines and used to help place you hire on organic web searches.
Other Perks of Infographics:
• They can be recycled. The research you’ve used to create an infographic can turn around and generate a press release.
• It is easier to explain complicated data in the form of a picture
• Inexpensive
• They get shared more than just regular text.
Are you still not sold yet? Maybe you will be once you see how easy it is to make an infographic. There are sites like infogr.am and visual.ly that take you step by step through creating your infographic from the beginning stages of deciding what content you want to feature, through the end final touches making your ingoraphic design stand out!
Try it out and see if you get the ROI you want for your business.
~CB and BL
It was the beginning of August at Ft. Benning , Georgia. The feels like temperature on that first day of Airborne school was well over a hundred degrees. For safety reasons the class had to be run through the outdoor showers every hour or so as a precaution for heat exhaustion. The first day we went over “break procedures”. It was an instructional drill on how we were to be released to break and how we were to respond when called to return from break. We quickly found out that it was really just an opportunity for the cadre to “break” us as we failed the drill practice of “break procedures” and were punished with physical exercise and criticism that had no immediate end in sight. We were in full uniform and worn down in the sawdust pits while trying to distinguish between what was water from the outdoor showers and what was the natural sweat pouring off of us. Hot, sticky and exhausted we were soon given our first opportunity to quit.
It was then that we learned of the White House. You see, there was a little white house at the edge of the grounds where the out-processing took place for those who quit. They would be returned the unit that they came from or reassigned to a new non-jumping unit. The cool thing about the White House was that it was literally cool. It was also filled with coffee, doughnuts, milk, cookies and sodas. All of those things would have fetched a premium on those grounds. There was a standing open invitation to enjoy the comfort of the White House with no judgment. In fact, it was extremely encouraged.
The class initially began with over 600 students but a little over half of the students surrendered to the little White House over the first two weeks. Going into the third week (jump week) we had our real company of Airborne soldiers. Everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be by design. The paratroopers were there and the others had moved on, courtesy of the White House.
Many times over the years I wished that we had a White House at the dealership. I knew we couldn’t really build a White House in the showroom, but why not fill the conference room with coffee, doughnuts, milk, cookies and soda. There would be no judgment, just a friendly place to out-process for those who just refuse to get on the same page. After all, we all need to be where we should be by design.
"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man."- Jay-Z
What most people don't realize is that even a living person can become a brand. This is a basic staple of advertising and sometimes it needs to be asked: what exactly is a brand? In a nutshell, The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers."
You don't have to be a genius to realize that Jay-Z for example, can attach his likeness or endorsement to anything and it will sell. What if a Jay-Z created cereal comes to market right now...would you buy it? Someone absolutely will. Let's really explore the basics of a branding campaign. Smart people know that if you have a product or offer a service, you must advertise. This is essential to building a brand and honestly, it's hard selling something you have if no one knows it exists. There's a great line from Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross where he states that sales is about "A.B.C. - Always Be Closing." In this case, we can go with "A.R.A - Always Run Ads". The main DNA for running an ad is composed of two elements: Frequency and Reach.
Frequency is based on your advertising schedule. Ask yourself: Are you going to run this ad every day? Four times a week? Only on Thursdays? When you can answer that question, move on to Reach. For example, I can create the most amazing, awesome, astonishing ad of all time. You've never seen anything like it before and It will blow you away. If I only show it in a five mile radius, then it's not worth a lot. There's no substantial return on investment (ROI). You must have the ads run repeatedly and cover as much geographic area as financially allowable. That’s how advertising breathes and more importantly, how building your brand really works.
As a former advertising executive, the HARDEST part of my job was convincing business owners they still needed to advertise. You don’t want your customers thinking you’re going out of business if they don’t see the ads you used to run. Business owners feel that because they've been around a several decades that running ads are not necessary. That's not entirely true but telling them in a delicate way that they're wrong takes a certain amount of finesse. On the other hand, there are some situations where running an ad campaign sporadically makes sense. Think about that really popular annual football game with the extremely expensive commercials? Those are all about reach and because of the audience it draws in, frequency is not a huge factor. Your message has impacted the masses on a global scale and the cost definitely justifies the motive.
When it comes to building a brand, I would say that one important step is to create a logo. A symbol that when recognized will tell a prospective consumer or client exactly what your company, products and services are all about. That same logo will eventually lead the public to your brand's awareness on a social level. People see your logo and will always recognize your company under any circumstance. Does it mean they will always to buy in that moment? Of course not, but they will always know your company and when they need what you have, they will come. If it still remains whether you should care about branding then you're asking the wrong question.
http://www.internetsales20group.com - 856-546-2440
http://www.dealersynergy.com/ 856-546-2440
CEO of Dealer Synergy Sean Bradley hosts "Make Money Mondays" with Special Guest Tammie Lebleu
CEO of Dealer Synergy Sean Bradley normally does a Make Money Mondays segment every Monday providing excellent tips for people in the automotive industry to make money. Each week is a different topic. This version is a special edition because it includes Tammie Lebleu from Orr Nissan Bossier in L.A. As head of internet sales at her company she is a very experienced person that is advising people in the automotive industry how to optimize the use of internet sales. She explains how to optimize social media and the importance of it. Almost everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. The majority of people even have smart phones so a lot of advertising is done through mobile. In fact she shares she finds 96% of customers have been shopping online. Summary, if you aren't making use of social media and internet marketing, you should be.
Find out more about Nissan Bossier on their website: http://bossiercitynissan.orrnissan.com/Special_Events.html
Get more motivation and personal improvement tips on the Make Money Mondays site: http://www.makemoneymondays.net/
Are you interested in automotive services from Dealer Synergy? It is located in Audobon, New Jersey but serves clients all over the U.S: http://ow.ly/xrSUg
Beginning July 1, new Canadian Anti Spam Legislation will go into effect, enforcing strict regulations on the way emails are sent, as well as how lists are collected and maintained. For most businesses, this means rethinking the way they structure their email marketing strategies to be in compliance.
Whether your business is located in Canada or not, these new regulations are good practice for email marketing in any country. Canada is not the first country to impose regulations on unsolicited emails. Several European countries have been enforcing email spam laws for quite some time, and with electronic media taking off, it’s a matter of time before new legislation is passed in the United States.
On this episode of Hard Facts, Samantha details exactly what’s in store for Canadian businesses facing these new laws, and how to best prepare for the coming changes. Learn how you can make the transition as painless as possible when legislation goes into effect, and how your business can avoid hefty penalties and fines.
The words "big data" have been buzzing around the marketing and advertising world for a few years now. Technology has made it possible to do things with data through analysis and proper utilization that weren't very easy a decade ago. It's a good thing, but it's not enough.
In the automotive industry, we see it used for everything from conquest sales to social media promotions. There's nothing wrong with this except for the fact that most in our industry are only seeing the tip of iceberg. Big data is great but the latest advances in technology make it possible to take advantage of both "big data" as well as "better data".
Many dealers are starting to see the benefits of using their internal databases to drive continued business with the dealership. It's great to go out and get new customers but there's a goldmine of opportunity within your existing clientele. Many companies are pushing this through direct mail, email, and other forms of communication, but nearly everyone is missing the opportunities that are created by improving on the data itself.
We have big data. Now, we have to turn it into better data.
For example, there are huge opportunities in appending the data based upon changes in circumstance. Let's say a customer gets married. She's driving the same car and may or may not be living in the same address. Her phone number is probably the same but she now has a different last name. By appending the data based upon the likely scenario that she got married, we can better attend to her needs and send her the right messages to get her back into the dealership.
Another challenge with big data is that it over-categorizes people. Just because the technology is there to put people into categories doesn't mean that it should be done. Dealers should not have service customers and sales customers. They have customers. You should be trying to get those who bought a car from you to also have the car serviced at your dealership. You should be trying to get those who come in for service to also purchase their next vehicle from you. This can be done when you tear down the category walls and tune the messages appropriately to the individuals.
Big data is the past and present. In many ways, it's also still the future, but it can be improved upon in the automotive industry by letting go of some restrictions and focusing on improving the quality of the data itself. Dealers that do this are the ones that will be able to improve their loyalty as well as their bottom line.
25 Things Veteran Managers Need to Hear
(But don’t want to…)
In life, we all need someone to just tell us the hard truth. Even when it’s something we really don’t want to know. Call it tough love, a reality check, or the ugly truth.. It is what it is.
My wife is talented beyond measure in this department. For example, if it is apparent that I need a Kleenex (I think you know what I mean) my wife will give me a subtle elbow to the ribs and say, “Hey Batman, you have a bat in the cave.” She finds this un-naturally entertaining, I might add. The next exchange goes a little like this.
“Gone?”
“Nope”
“Now?”
“Still there.”
“Damnit!”
“Got it.”
“Thanks”
But even though I am a little embarrassed, I’m glad I didn’t walk around the party for two hours with an uninvited guest hanging out of my nostril like a baby kangaroo.
The bottom line is this. The longer that you have been in the car business, the more you need this list. You are guaranteed to disagree with me on some or all of this list. It’s just my opinion. Remember, I’m the guy who can’t even keep his nose clean…
- Quit worrying about the number of leads you’re getting and worry about HOW your handling the leads you currently have. There’s a good chance you’ve got this backwards.
- Trust me, you’re not spending enough time or money on training. How about consistently spending wasted, untracked advertising dollars on good training?
- Quit worrying so much about Average Gross Profit per unit and start measuring Spread. (Published Internet Price minus What you actually ended up selling it for, including under/over allowance.) You’ll find out who your strong ones are.
- There is practically no such thing as a “Walk-In” or “Drive By”. Assume all of your customers are from the internet. You’ll only be wrong 1 out of 10 times.
- You don’t HAVE to use 900lbGorilla.com. I think we all know the providers I’m talking about. You have the ability to create more of your own leads, you know.
- Stop generalizing about advertising. (“XYZ never works” or “ABC always works”) It’s all in the offer.
- Stop using clichés: “This is the way we’ve always done it.” “We tried that once and it didn’t work.” “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” I don’t care if they’re true, I’m just sick of hearing them.
- Stop only looking at your desktop when thinking about your website. Wake up, we live in a handheld world. The average person looks at their mobile device 104 times a day.
- Quit procrastinating on using video to communicate with customers. Start creating a video culture, now.
- You DON’T need more inventory. You DO need better inventory. This IS a net profit thing, right?
- Shut up about having to give cars away on the internet. It’s getting old and it’s making you look silly. No matter how loud you cry, the internet is not going away. Just make sure your customers don’t.
- Stop managing petty things and start managing your people’s habits and expectation levels. People produce exactly what they expect to produce.
- Stop saying that Facebook doesn’t sell cars. Read “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” by Gary Vaynerchuk. He is smarter than you.
- Start treating your employees better. Get them involved. We all want to feel like a part of something bigger.
- Quit being lazy and implement a strict aging policy and a turn policy on your vehicles. Quit managing cars and start managing parking spaces and ROI on your inventory dollars. Does the term “Holding Cost” mean anything to you?
- Get your cars cleaned and online within 48 hours of getting them. If your vehicle is not online with pictures, thoughtful pricing, and good descriptions, it’s invisible to EVERYONE but you. (and your floorplan company)
- Stop talking so much about units. Start talking about net profit. This goes for vendors, too.
- Your pay-plans probably suck. I just said probably. I have seen poorly constructed pay plans derail good intentions.
- Start treating your Internet/BDC Department like a REAL Department. If 90% of your customers are online, why are you spending 10% of your time thinking about this department. The Internet Manager needs to be treated and paid like the rest of your managers.
- Take off your bib and put on an apron. Practice servant management. Serve, serve, listen, listen. Cook your damn employees a hamburger, for goodness sake!
- Start paying more attention to retention. Quit ignoring your OWN dealership’s owner base. Your sitting on a treasure chest. Get off your butt and open it.
- Start listening to your incoming phone calls. Just make sure there are no sharp objects nearby. Then hold your vendors accountable for REAL number of leads.
- There’s a sales GOLDMINE on your service drive right now. Next time you’re bored, count the number of ROs in your service department versus the amount of showroom traffic for the month. Where’s the opportunities?
- Stop teaching the “Silent Appraisal”. While you’re at it, stop using VHS tapes, Sony Walkmans, and rotary dial phones.
- Stop getting upset when someone hires the superstar you developed. It’s the ultimate compliment. When people leave you better than they came, you’re doing your job and your company is getting better.
I hope I didn’t ruffle your feathers. I just don’t want you walking around with a bat in the cave.
Who’s your Danny?
@Danny_Benites
